wrote:

A lawn doesn't _need_ aeration. Lots of nice lawns have never
been aerated.

This is very true... my lawn looks as good as any golf course fairway
and I never aerate, I use no chemferts, I never even water, all I do
is mow... all my neighbors refer to it as "The Golf Course". And I
can easily aerate the ten acres I mow by buying the implement for my
tractor but it's really not necessary. And keep in mind, if ones soil
is lousy; dry, stoney, clayey, heavily compacted to a depth of more
than like 2-3 inches aerating will accomplish absolutely nothing...
then it really should be deeply tilled, amended, and started from
scratch. If I really wanted a picture perfect lawn and it's only
1,000 sq ft I'd have nothing to think about, I'd redo it in totallity
from square one.

Just a small portion... picture was taken for the hummer, not the
lawn:
http://i52.tinypic.com/11khaxk.jpg

A little fertilizing:
http://i55.tinypic.com/2f0c6sj.jpg

Rough mowing my wildflower meadow two weeks ago, keeps it healthy...
discovered by raising my finishing mower to a 5" height its mulching
blades do a better job than my brushhog:
http://i52.tinypic.com/jjnwwk.jpg

If you really think your lawn would be improved
by aeration, RENT an aerator.

My neighbor two houses ago (30 years ago) had a small lawn, maybe
4,000 sq ft and every time he pushed his mower or did any kind of yard
work he wore those old style golf shoes, those did a great job of
aerating... any sports shoes with cleats is all the aerating one needs
for a small area... wearing cleats also vastly improves traction
making yard work less fatiguing.